A taste of the next chapter of my Reyes Vidal x Aeryn Ryder story
Tagging anyone who want to share theirs!
Whatâs he to you?â Sloane slouched back on the throne, confidant in her safety and authority here as Kaetus crossed his arms. âAnd donât lie to me.â
Aeryn wanted nothing more in that moment than to tell Sloane to fuck off, to grab a gun off one of the guards and point it at the smug bitch to take her down a peg or two in her own court. But SAM silently reminded her that she needed the information Vehn Terev had and antagonising the Outcast leader might make that a lot harder. Aeryn inhaled slowly, allowing SAM to reduce her adrenaline levels and let the breath out again, trying to think the best way to get what she needed. Perhaps if she angled the conversation towards what sheâd overheard that could work in her favour.
âI need him so I can infiltrate a Kett flagship. You obviously got no love for the Kett, Iâm doing you a favour.â
Sloane sneered her derision at the obvious play, seeing straight through it.
âKadara is an Angaran port. They want Vehn dead and I want to keep them happy.â
Aeryn returned the expression as sheâd seen how Sloane treated the Angaran. She was getting tired of this, didnât Sloane realise what was going on or did she not care?
âThis is bigger than local politics Sloane! Think.â
Sloane obviously was growing tired of the exchange as she sat forward, Kaetus stepped forward protectively.
âYou donât need Vehn, you need his intel. Talk to him before I put his head on a spike.â
Aerynâs blood ran cold. What kind of message would that send to the Angaran here to see one of their own kind given the same treatment as the Kett. Even if he was a traitor, that had to rub them the wrong way. Even if not, what message would it send to the Resistance, to the Moshae, to Evfra?
âVehn should be judged by the Resistance, not you.â
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(AO3 Link - Doing some Andromeda prompts this year! Ryder tries to cook.)
Reyes was woken up by the sound of pots and pans clanging together coming from his kitchen. He opened his eyes to find the other side of his bed empty, and he reached out to touch the sheets - cold, so Ryder had been up for a while. At a muffled curse, he threw on a pair of sweatpants and padded out to the living area of his prefab. "Rosetta?"
"Hm?" she answered from inside one of the low cabinets. Her long lilac braid was mussed from sleep, and he couldn't help a smile at the sight. He always liked what she looked like after they spent the night together. Still, he asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm- Ow." She bumped her head on the top of the cabinet and clutched at the spot, sitting back on the floor. "Fuck."
Reyes tsked and knelt down next to her. "Let me see."
"It's fine," Ryder tried to wave him off. "I was trying to make breakfast until your kitchen tried to off me."
"Yes, it's all the kitchen's fault." He held back a chuckle. "Now let me see. I've had enough threats from your crew to know better than to send you back in anything less than mint condition."
She groaned but removed her hand. "Seriously? They couldn't leave well enough alone?"
"They weren't necessarily wrong," he said, parting her hair to check for blood. "I'm very dangerous, you know." He hissed when he found the wound. "Now, this needs medi-gel. Stay right there, and then I'll make breakfast."
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
The Archon had taken the Hyperion. Ryder must retrieve her brother, the ark and all the sleepers on board. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, she gathers her allies. Reyes is the first she calls. With everything between them in limbo, she promises him a talk once the fight is over. But when the dust settles, Ryder is nowhere to be found.
The last instalment of the Misfortunes of Reyes Vidal for now.
I made it!! Thanks to @obvidalousâ, @natsoraâ and @rpgwritesâ for making me believe in myself. For real your guys have my hole heart
Since my new computer sucks, and I canât have new screenshots because MEA is not working on it, I tried to be realistic.
Part 1 here
Reyes was never a social media guy. He was an alliance soldier, most of the pictures he had were some Friday night drinks with a bunch of colleagues on their profiles. His personal page was a desert with two or three landscape pictures and a glass of whiskey.Â
That is why he could not care less when Andromeda new social media started. Some Koreans and Japanese got out of cryo, and apparently, they were brought here for helping communication between the colonies. So yeah, let's make a social media.Â
And it worked. Reyes saw many Kadara residents with their profiles at hand on their omni-tool. Some people from the Nexus had a device on their hand, a 5.5 inches board with a screen that they took everywhere.
Even the bathroom.
Just like on earth, it was kind of bizarre. But people seemed to like it, so now he had requests to smuggle the devices enough to pay for a month of expenses.
Since the information was his job's top priority he made an anonymous account, not that was anything that much useful but better than nothing.Â
Scott Ryder was awake, but his sister Sara was still in a coma. People were commenting that we would take Lumina's place as a pathfinder, and calling her a 'cold-hearted woman that should be replaced'.
And that is why he hates social media.
The woman put outposts, killed Kett, found arks, made diplomatic contact with the Angara, saves Nexus ass every day but is "cold-hearted" because she doesn't have a fake smile or an annoying positive attitude.
A few days later, the Tempest was back on Kadara.
Drack and Vetra went to see something no one needed to know, Liam and Jaal went back to complain about the place, Peebee went to the market, and a white hair girl ran towards a group of people, smiling and laughing.
He kept watching the vid until realizing that the girl was Lumina. Even her crew members were in shock at her laugh in the images, or maybe it was the fact that she was speaking japanese so fast that looked like a machine.Â
At the bar, they chose to sit in the middle laughing and drinking like never. He knew those people. They were hunters and hackers, all from some part of Asia. Some of the most dangerous at Kadara.Â
"You are something else Ryder..." He whispered, going back to work.
His device had a notification. An anon count posted that,Â
'The shady Pathfinder has shady friends.â
Looking at Lumina, she didn't seem to care much.
Hours passed, around 3 am, Reyes decided to leave.Â
The group was paying for the last round of drinks, Drack was there probably to keep an eye on her, although she seemed fine. The best among all of them.Â
"So why did you dyed your hair?" Kian said while cleaning the bar.
"Yeah, why Luuuumi?" The drunk girl with bangs asked, her name was Eunseo from what he had gathered. One of the best Hackers in the initiative.Â
Heard she stayed after the munity to spit in Tann's face in front of the screen, and laughed all the way towards the escape pod.
Some members of the Collective worked with her, not just because she was a pretty good hacker, but because the girl needed a job after telling Sloan to âsuck her wiggly dick.â
Funny group.
"So when the social media was announced, Tann called all the pathfinders and told us to keep a low profile for appearances." Said Lumina while dressing her coat and fixing her hair that looked smooth and shiny.Â
Reyes wanted to touch it, maybe pull a bit while looking her in the eyes.
"So you dyed your hair white to tell him to fuck off." The smuggler said while walking away from the bar fixing his hair after a long workday.Â
"Oh Reyes, I would never do something like that."
After huggy-huggy moments between friends, he decided to walk her to the tempest, in silence. A comfortable silence. Once close to the ship, he finally asked.Â
"You really didn't dye your hair to tell Tann to fuck off, Ryder?" Lumina rolled her eyes and sited on a cradle, the streets were empty, but he knew there were eyes on him and the Pathfinder.Â
Her legs were open, the arms were placed above the thighs, hands hanging in the middle. And Lumina knew he was looking at the black shorts a bit tight, her oversized shirt did not cover all this time. The nearly Ivory hair perfectly contouring her slightly chubby face.
That duality of being strangely adorable in a moment then a wolf about to attack in the other was no joke.
"Of course not Reyes." Lumina leaned towards him, normally that would be almost to close for his taste there was an interesting look on her face, kind of provocative. "I told him to fuck off, then dyed my hair."
She blinked, and booth laughed and Reyes wandered... What a girl like her was doing at the Nexus?
âWait a minute.â She run to the ship, coming back five minutes later with a plastic box, she opened the container.
It was an Omuraisu.
âI hope you like your bento...â Lumina bowed a bit, hiding her face, while warping the box in a black fabric.Â
Reyes put two fingers on her chin, their eyes meet. She was using contacts, the eyeballs look bigger than normal. Finally, a weak point in the hard shell.
The Charlatan noticed, she probably never even kissed before, that is why it was so embarrassed to be so close to him that way. Still he leaned on, and game a charlatan smirk.
âThank you, Lumina. I will make it up to you.â
Reyes never knew a human could be so red, it was cute. The goodbye was quick, he ate the bento box in the next day at Tartarus. Kian made some jokes. But in the end, gave him another advice.
âGood luck finding a chocolate in Kadara to give back the gift properly.â
Reyes smile nearly died, but he saw the empty food box, all the food perfectly organizes, she took some time to make it. He was full for the day, and it was the first decent meal in nearly six months. Imagined Lumina at the tempest kitchen organizing, and smiled again looking at Kian.
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Here you have the reason why Liam and Sara never could date, and Reyes with a space puppy (As confirmed Dog Person, nobody can convince me the sole reason for the collective to raise adhis is for combat and not bc reyes brain immediately went P U P P Y)
From my previous post, I had two people say they liked Aeryn and it's fitting i get to use that name again considering another OC was originally called that but changed.
So here is Aeryn Ryder, (formerly Seren Ryder,) Pathfinder and Queen of Kadara alongside her king.
(I love how tiny she is in the first pic, but she is not to be underestimated!)
Event hosted by @cactuarkitty with fanfic prompts by @vorchagirl
Prompt - Write about a moment when emotions between your characters became a little extreme. Did their relationship become stressed? Did things get hot? Did loves almost break up? Drama, angst, smut, fluff - everything is on the table!
I canât believe it took me over two years to FINALLY write my version of the High Noon mission. After seeing this particular prompt, I figured now was the time to get it out there. Honestly, I donât think it really holds a candle to all the other amazing versions Iâve read, but I do hope you enjoy it regardless!
Also, please note that I DO NOT hate Sloane... itâs just how the story is since itâs written in the perspective of my Pathfinder, Kira Ryder.
---
âUntimely Griefâ
âReady, princess?â
Pathfinder Kira Ryder didn't usually let things get under her skin, especially things that would be considered petty and low. Â Sloane Kelly's condescending tone with those words should've been one of them... and yet the words struck her as though those she was stabbed with a knife right through the gut.
Kira knew exactly why. Â Had it been any other noun, it would've been so much easier to deal with. Â Hell, even being called a bitch would've sufficed.
But no... it just had to be 'Princess.' Â It had been years since called anyone ever called her that... more specifically, her late father. Â
The noun jogged old memories Kira hadn't thought about since before leaving the Milky Way for the Andromeda galaxy â memories of simpler times of her childhood where Alec Ryder was an attache on the Citadel; how she looked up to him as her hero, who was proud of even her smallest achievements, and who wasn't as distant as he would become the older she got. Â He was the reason she wanted to join the military.
She couldn't remember when he stopped calling her Princess, but she did remember realizing that he hadn't called her that for a long time at around thirteen-years-old. Â And somehow, at that moment, the realization hurt more than it should've. Â Between that, and the emotional distance he created, Kira eventually grew to resent her father. Â It was easy to deal with while she attended Arcturus Academy in her high school years and, later, as an Alliance soldier since it meant not being around him all that much. Â When she and the rest of the family were together, the most common companion at the dinner table was awkward silence.
It also didn't help when she and her brother Luke were discharged from the Alliance due to Alec's illegal AI research, nor the fact that neither of them could find a decent job in the aftermath.
After her mom died, it seemed to serve as a wake-up call of sorts for Alec. Â It was only then, despite everything, that she and her father began to slowly mend the wounds that were left behind, and close the distance that was between them. Â By the time they left for Andromeda, things still weren't perfect, but the mending process was still heading in the right direction.
They were barely in Andromeda when bad luck hit the family. Â Not only was Luke in a coma due to a malfunction in his cryo pod after they hit the scourge, but Alec sacrificed himself to save Kira's and, for whatever reason, entrusted her his role as Pathfinder. Â Since then, she had been constantly on the go with establishing outposts, dealing with the crummy half of Nexus leadership, maintaining morale for her crew, forming a trusting alliance with the angara, and trying everything possible to make sure that everyone who came to Andromeda didn't starve.
As she followed Sloane, the leader of the Outcasts, into one of the many hidden caves of Kadara, Kira realized that she never had the chance to mourn the loss of her father... and now she was forced to fight the floodgates that threatened to open and spill forth all the emotions she held in for months since his passing.
Of course this has to happen at the worst time, Kira thought as she struggled to get control of herself. Â The last thing she needed was to break down right then and there, especially in front of Sloane.
She did manage to finally get a grip as soon as they reached an open space within the cave. Â Kira focused on her surroundings... they were here because they were supposed to meet with the Charlatan, the leader of the Outcasts' rival gang, the Collective, to settle things once and for all.
Kira would be lying if she wasn't curious about who the Charlatan was. Â After all, whoever they were, they seemed to have an interest in the Pathfinder despite never approaching her directly. Â With the exception of her first day out in the Badlands, none of the Collective have tried to attack. Â She later found out that they had orders not to harm her or her crew from one member with no reason given other than they were under the Charlatanâs orders.
Five seconds later, she figured out why...
âYou look like you're waiting for someone,â a voice â a very familiar voice â spoke within the cave's shadows.
Kira turned her head to where the voice came from just as Reyes Vidal â a man she was slowly growing attached to since they met, with him introducing himself with the very same words he uttered moments ago - stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Seeing him standing there, a subtle frown on his face as he stared back at her, everything she knew about the Charlatan, the Collective, all the missions she and Reyes went on together suddenly fell together and made much more sense.
âReyes?â Kira whispered, unable to hide the shock in her voice.
Sloane spoke up with disinterest, âI'm here for the Charlatan, not some third-rate smuggler.â
Kira glared at Sloane, who had her back turned to her, with a raised eyebrow. Sheâs in denial. She canât be that stupid...  âThey're one in the same,â Kira said.
âSurprise?â Reyes spoke up, his arms spread out at his sides as though he was emphasizing his reveal.
Between her whirlwind emotions from moments before, and now the shock of finding out who Reyes really was, Kira couldn't help but shake her head as, once more, she fought to get control of her emotions. Â âSo, did you really lie to me this whole time?â
Reyes didn't hesitate to reply. Â âNot about everything. Â You know who I really am.â
âDo I?â Kira couldn't help but ask with some contempt.
Sloane decided to get down to business, clearly not interested in their exchange . Â âYou said you wanted to settle things. Â How?â
Reyes jumped down from the rock he was standing up before he faced Sloane. Â âIt's simple; a duel. Â You and me, right now. Â Winner takes Kadara Port.â
Kira's eyes widened in horror at his suggest. Â A duel?! Â She screamed in her head. Â Reyes, what the hell are you thinking?! Â Sloane's former Alliance military for crying out loud!
She wanted to shout these words to Reyes as panic began to set in. Â Once more, she was forced to clamp down her emotions before she managed to calmly say to him, âYou want to avoid war by shooting each other?â
âTwo people shooting each other is better than a lot of people shooting each other,â Reyes reasoned.
Kira drew a quiet breath at that... knowing he was right. Â This really was the best way to settle things between the two factions. Â The rival between them was bloody enough as it was; worse for the innocent people who were caught in the middle of this gang war they wanted no part of.
âI'll take those terms,â Sloane accepted.
And then, they began to slowly circle each other, their hands close to their pistols. Neither of them once took their eye off the other as they waited to see who would make the first move. Kira stood in her spot, only able to watch what was unfolding in front of her.
Donât die, Kira suddenly thought as she stared at Reyes. Despite being mad about him keeping his secret from her, she knew he likely had his reasons. It was irrational, she knew, but she didnât care at this point. All she cared about right now is that he survived the duel somehow. I lost my Dad, and my brother is in a coma, and now I might lose y-
Her running thoughts suddenly stopped as she caught a glint within the cave's darkness. Â Kira turned her attention to where it came from. Â Despite the shadows, she was able to spot someone lying on their stomach watching what was unfolding in front of her. Â She knew right away why they were there even before SAM mentioned it barely a second later.
Sniper, the AI alerted her through their private channel. Â His sights are set on Sloane.
There was a split moment of relief; he wasn't there to kill Reyes... but she then realized that it was Reyes who brought the sniper here without Sloane's knowledge. Â Instinctively, and for a couple of seconds, Kira thought about how wrong it was, how she can stop this duel right now. Â She nearly took a step forward...
But then she stopped herself. Â Looking at Sloane, Kira was reminded of all the horrible things she let happen here on Kadara. Â The innocents who suffered under her rule, forcing them to pay protection before kicking them off into the unforgiving Badlands, not considering the needs of the angara who were here long before they arrived, among other things.
The Charlatan was not much better, but at the end of the day, they, no â he - her own feelings for him aside, was the lesser of two evils.
Kira also realized why a sniper was there to begin with. Sloane was former military. Â Reyes was not. Â It was a smart backup strategy on his part, as sneaky as it was...
With all that in mind, Kira didn't make another move...
The shot rang out and echoed against the cave walls. Sloane leaned forward as blood began to seep from her chest â right where her heart was â and she let out a pained gasped as she collapsed onto her knees. Â Her eyes looked to Reyes, and then to the Pathfinder. Â Kira read the single question in her shocked eyes â Why?
Kira, with her face neutral as she stared at Sloane, couldn't help her next thoughts. Â I guess I'm not the 'princess' you thought I was...
And then, Sloane collapsed completely on her right side, her eyes closing as her life seeped from her. Â As this happened, Kira was, once more, flooded with memories of her father and how he died to save her; memories of her brother who was currently in a coma on the Nexus with no way of knowing when he would wake up... if ever...
...And how she came close to losing Reyes today.
Kira didn't pay any attention as Reyes spoke to his sniper, who began to carry Sloane's body out of the cave to who knows where. Â She didn't even realize that she fell to her knees and, suddenly, it was hard to breathe. Â Barely grasping for her throat, she struggled to fully get air in her lungs. Â She vaguely heard SAM say something, but she didn't catch what was said...
And then, someone pulled her to them and held her close...
Kira knew it was Reyes. Â She should've been angry with him. Â She should've been screaming and pushing him away, shouting to him about how he lied to her... but instead, she was tired. She was tired of the pressure that was on her shoulders, she was tired of fighting with the crummy side of Nexus leadership, she was tired of feeling alone in her struggle. Â She nearly lost Reyes today, she wanted Luke to wake up already, and Dad, why did you have to die?!
The tears finally began to pour down her cheeks as she collapsed into Reyes's arms and sobbed into his shoulder. Â Months of being on-the-go with no time to mourn her father, being worried about whether or not Luke would ever wake up, and now nearly losing the one person in Andromeda she come to deeply care for â it was too much to take, so much so that the vulnerability she dreaded to show to anyone was now out on the surface.
Kira wasn't sure how long she cried in Reyes's shoulder, venting out the mix of grief, pain, anger, and fear from her system. Eventually, the sobs subsided and she pulled back, though she didn't look at him right away. Â A part of her wanted to bolt up and run away simply because she didn't want him to see her like this...
But she was tired... so damn tired...
Kira soon managed to pull away slightly to look Reyes in the eyes, despite knowing hers likely didn't look so great. Â Looking at him, she was taken aback by what she saw â his lips were frowning, his eyes were dilated, and his eyebrows were furrowed. Â It was all subtle, but she was able to read loud and clear that, whatever was running through his mind right now, he was frightened.
âWhy didn't you trust me?â she ended up asking, her voice sounding more pitiful than she meant to.
Reyes reached a hand out to her face to wipe away the tears that stained her cheeks. Â The features on his face seemed to turn less subtle and more clear. Â Momentarily, he looked at the space that laid between them before he drew in a breath and gazed back up at her.
âI... wasn't sure what you would think,â Reyes finally said. Â âI... liked the way you looked at me. Â I was afraid that would change.â
It was Kira's turn to look between them. Â She thought about the time they spent together ever since they met at Kralla's Song at the port. Â It started out as them being nothing more than business partners, but the more time they were around each other, the more Kira... liked him, more than she had ever expected. Â In fact, Reyes Vidal was the first person in Andromeda who made her feel normal and not just the Pathfinder.
âThe thing about Reyes is that he always has a good reason.â Â That was what Reyes's friend, Keema Dohrgun, said to her when they attended Sloane's party just a few weeks ago. Â It was at the same party where they kissed for the first time â and where he let out a little of his own vulnerability over why he came to Andromeda in the first place. Â To be someone...
She hadn't forgotten how soft his eyes would get when he thought she wasn't looking. Â She hadn't forgotten the hopeful gaze he gave her after she kissed him in the storage room as a 'distraction.' And she certainly hadn't forgotten the way his voice growled in defense when his ex tried to involve her in their professional/personal dispute. Â Even now, as she cried in his shoulder, he gently caressed her back and whispered in her ear in comfort despite her not catching what he was saying due to her not paying attention.
Kira wasn't thrilled about Reyes lying about who he was she wouldâve preferred being told the truth in the first place... but there was no denying that his actions, and the way he looked at her, told the truth about how he felt about her...
Thinking of all this, and with some caution about the future in mind, Kira made a decision... one that she knew she wouldn't hear the end of from her crew once they knew what happened here today. Â But truthfully, she didn't care, because for one thing, she deeply cared for Reyes even before all this, and, well...
âNothing's changed,â she finally said as she gazed back up at him.
His reaction was something to see, and it was almost like watching his mind process what she declared to him; there was a momentary shock in his eyes before he began to smile, almost in relief. Then that same smile subtly transformed into something more... playful.
âYou have bad taste in men,â he said, low and husky. He quickly closed the space between and pressed his lips to her, deep and yearning. Â She returned the kiss with equal fervor just as they both held each other close, neither of them moving from the ground they sat on.
The kiss lasted a while until they were forced to stop in order to catch their breathes. Â Kira moved to hug him closer, her face next to his. Â âThe worst,â she teased, her words whispered in his ear.
In response, Reyes kissed her once more, and she welcomed it.